Microsoft rumored to have a new Windows 10 Mobile device in the works

In recent years Microsoft has scaled back its Windows 10 Mobile efforts and left the way clear for iOS and Android to dominate the smartphone market, but every now and again we get hints that the company is planning a return to the market.

Well we've now got more evidence that there is indeed a new Windows 10 Mobile device on the way - podcaster and seasoned Microsoft watcher Brad Sams says a new "mobile-like" prototype handset is being tested and is currently "floating around corporate offices".

What we don't have are any details on specs or design, and it's not certain that we're talking about a phone or a tablet according to Sams - it's just that a new phone would make more sense considering that's the gap Microsoft needs to plug in its line-up.

How about the HoloPhone?

Interestingly enough, Sams says the device is not being developed by Microsoft's Surface division but by a team headed up by Alex Kipman, who's in charge of Microsoft HoloLens. Could the new phone have a strong emphasis on AR/VR when it arrives?

That would certainly make sense in the light of Google's Project Tango and the ARKit tech coming to iOS 11, but for now it's mostly a guessing game. It does seem increasingly likely, though, that Microsoft is getting ready for a mobile return in one form or another.

Apparently the new device is still buggy and needs a lot of work, but Microsoft is planning to position it at the premium end of the market. We probably won't see anything before 2018 at the earliest, but we've collected all the rumours on Microsoft's next flagship phone for you here.